Taking the Gooney bird across the Pacific

Seeing the “Old Gooney Bird” under “Generations” on your aviation webpage reminds me that I flew one from Miami, Fla. across the Pacific to Vietnam. The trip segment from the West Coast to Honolulu had us in the air for 18 straight hours traveling at 130 MPH. It seemed like we would never get there. After Hawaii, we went to Midway Island, (where we observed the real Gooney Birds nesting all over the island and endured a mighty thunderstorm that had been predicted by the clairvoyant Jean Dixon, to sink the island on that date…obviously she was wrong! ). We then flew to Wake Island, Guam and on to the Philippines before flying into Vietnam. The total trip took 75 hours of flying time and 20 total days. I got to know the “Old Bird”, C-47, pretty well in that time. The over 400 combat sorties I flew in that year in Vietnam proved to me that the “Gooney Bird” was one of the great all-time aircraft.

4 Responses to Taking the Gooney bird across the Pacific

I love hearing about Vietnam and WWII. To Sandy’s Dad, thank you for your service. I love airplanes, although I couldn’t identify most of them. I recently created a website for a young man in Cocoa Beach who is applying to the Air Force Academy. His grandfather flew in Korea and Vietnam, and I included photos of him and his airplanes and added a photo of the F22 Raptor, the young man’s favorite plane. Take a look at http://www.shaunbonner.com. I hope he gets into the Air Force, that’s his dream. Mia

Mia, the website you did for Shaun is wonderful. Fingers crossed he gets his wish for a slot at the Academy. They are getting harder and harder to come by. My oldest son is very proud to have gone there. Both my boys used to go to the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio on rainy or cold winter days when they were young (the oldest on foot and the youngest in a stroller). It was better than any playground, with new wonders to discover. They loved it and the sheer size of the planes and displays rather awed them. If I remember right, that was back in the days when the museum only had one wing and a different name. : )

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Thanks for stopping in to my blog where aviation can be shared and discussed, and an occasional posting of my travel photos discovered. If you have a story to share or question to ask, I’d love to hear from you.
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